Shadows In The Night
by AnnaOlive8001
Summary: A young boy named Lee get turned immortal by a beautiful vampire named Jacqueline, and later turns his two brothers Seth and Heath. Hating his existence his goes to rest forever. Until a girl named Olive accidentally wakes him up.


Shadows in the Night  
Chapter One

The three brothers laughed as the Lee gathered his full sleeves at his wrists, Seth adjusted his breeches, and Heath put his coat over his waistcoat. The eldest, Heath Micheal Dubois ll, recently 20, was to be married to a young woman named Juniper Annette Charvet in the incoming week, and was quite excited. The next in line, Seth George Dubois, who was 18 years old was waiting for the masquerade ball tonight to propose to his lady, Mary Dorothea Beiner. And the fifteen-year-old, Lee James Dubois, had just become a man, but was still anxiously looking for a girl who he could call his own. Their father was the Count of Champagne, France, so young Lee wasn't worried about meeting a woman of good standing, because he had plenty of chances to do so.

All three brothers were preparing for a great night of fun at the King's masquerade ball. But little did they know, they were being watched, closely by a creature lusting only for their blood. When the three boys were all ready, they put on their hats and grabbed their masks, and headed downstairs to the main lobby of their mansion. Their little brother came running up to them, just as their father entered from the family room, and Seth picked him up. Their mother followed Christian's path, but she stopped a foot away from her sons.

"Hey, little one," Seth said.

Before Christian had a chance to respond, their mother spoke up.

"Are you boys ready?" she asked.  
"Yes, ma'am," replied Heath.  
"Good, because our carriage is waiting," said their father.  
"Why can't I come?" little Christian asked.  
"Because this is a grown-up party," their father said. "Now you are to listen to Miss Caroline and behave, you hear?"

Christian, was put back onto his feet, and he nodded to his father.

"Yes, sir," he said.  
"Don't worry, sweetie," their mother said, hugging her youngest son. "Someday you'll be big enough to join us in attending balls. Until then, you get to stay here and have your own fun with Miss Caroline. Where is she, by the way?"  
"She's helping the maids clean up the last of the kitchen mess," Christian answered.  
"Why don't you go wait for her in the dining area then? We must be going," Lee said, rubbing him gently on the head before sending him off

Christian giggled as he backed away.

"Okay. Have fun!"

With that, he ran off, and everyone headed out. When Count Dubois and his Countess arrived at the King's palace, followed by their sons, they each got out of their carriages, and they started up the cobblestone path following the crowd inside the palace. The guards at the front very well knew all the counts and their families, so they didn't even have to look down at their list of the masquerade attendees, to know they were allowed through. However, Lee suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, before entering the palace, for all of the hairs on the back of his neck had suddenly stood up. He looked sharply over his right shoulder, looking in the shadows of the dark trees in the distance, as he felt like someone or something was watching him.

When he heard his name being called in front of him, he ignored the creeping feeling, and turned around to mind his own business. When he went inside, and regrouped with his family in the Dance Hall, he found Heath already met up with his fiancé - Juniper. Juniper was wearing a stunning gown covered in marvelous, shinning flowers . Heath seemed to accentuate her attire with his own, which consisted of a gold waistcoat, iridescent green coat, and matching breeches. Lee looked over at his brother, Seth, to find that he matched with his lady, Mary, as well. She wore a dress similar to Juniper's that tied in the front and was sky blue, silver, and white, while Seth wore navy blue silk breeches, a matching coat with a Victorian touch along the front edges, and a Victorian style gold satin waistcoat.

Lee, however, was quite fond of simplicity in fashion. He, himself, wore a simple black waistcoat, with a bit of a shine to it to add class, and a solid black coat and matching breeches. As his brothers went off to dance with their women, he talked with his parents for awhile, until his eyes fell on an unfamiliar beauty. she seemed to be wearing all things too simple for a ball, besides the fact that her mask was one of the most magnificent. he could see her eyes very clearly through the slits in her mask, they shined a vivid greenish-yellow. though they were beautiful, they gave off a sort of mysteriously fierce look like she was searching hard for something important. He saw that she was scanning the room slowly, the feathers of her headpiece in her long blonde hair swaying along, until she stopped and caught his eyes. Even though she was all the way across the Dance Hall, he could still tell that she had found what she was looking for, from the smugly triumphant look in her great green eyes.

"Lee, are you paying attention to a word I'm saying?" asked his father.

He was, in fact, not listening. Both of his parents looked to where he had his eyes laid, and his mother immediately knew he had his heart set on her.

"Who is she?" Lee asked. "And why have I not seen her before?"

None of the counts had daughters with blonde hair. They all had different shades of brown hair, so she couldn't be a count's daughter. But she could be the daughter belonging to one of the King's government officials. No, no, they didn't have blonde hair, either. Nobody he knew had daughters with blonde hair. Was she a relative of somebody's? Well, it didn't really matter at this point. She was here, and he was here, so he had every intention of getting to know her.

He could tell by her sense of style that she was someone he'd get along well with. So, not waiting for either of his parents to answer his questions, he started walking toward her. His mother leaned in close to her husband as they both watched him.

"I think he's finally found some one he may actually think interesting."

Lee became short of breath after he stopped a foot away from this marvelous beauty. though there was the smallest of shouts coming from the back of his mind, telling him she wasn't something he wanted to know. She had seemed fair skinned from afar, but up close, she was extremely pale. Not that it really mattered, because Lee still found her to be beyond the kind of beauty he couldn't ever imagine seeing in a woman, until now.

"Lee James Dubois, the second youngest son of the Count of Champagne," he said, introducing himself as he bowed, now taking her hand in his to kiss it, which he noticed was rather cold "And what name might this lovely treasure come attached with?"

Her full red lips slowly curled into a smile as she took a courtesy, never failing to keep her mask at her eyes with her right hand.

"Jacqueline," she replied in a sweet tone that had a small twinge of ice mixed in.  
"Jacqueline," he repeated softly. "I've rarely heard that name before, but I assure you, it's quite beautiful. Might you care for a dance, or am I being too forward, or blind to see that you already have a man in waiting?"  
"Alas, I have no man in waiting," she answered. "And forward, no."

Lee smiled as he felt a tiny voice telling him to dance elsewhere, but her beauty was too much.

"Then may I be granted a dance with you?"

The young woman giggled, but rather mechanically.

"You may," she replied softly.

Lee smiled warmly in relief, push the voices away, now placing his mask piece to his eyes, and beginning his dance with Jacqueline.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Two

Lee and Jacqueline danced all night, barely ever taking more than a few moments to catch their breaths. Lee loved dancing with Jacqueline, but more importantly, he got along well with her. He wanted to get to know her more, so when the dance they were doing ended, he grabbed a couple wine glasses from a wine tray a passing waiter carried.

"You are a marvelous dancer," he commented, sipping his own wine once he handed her the second glass.

Jacqueline looked at the glass with a smile.

"Thank you," she said, not really wanting wine.

She stole a glance over Lee's way and looked hungrily at his neck. That's what she was thirsty for, for his blood. But in order for her to quench her thirst, she needed to get him alone.

"You're not half bad, either, Lee," she continued. "But might we take a step outside for a few moments? It's gotten quite hot in here from all this dancing."

Lee smiled her way and offered his arm, in taking it the warning voices flooded suddenly back.

"Why, certainly," he answered, now leading her off to the courtyard for a breath of fresh air.  
"So, tell me, dear Jacqueline," Lee started, now looking down at the moonlit path laid out before them. "Why is a beautiful woman such as yourself not already a lady in waiting?" he looked into her eyes again and shook off a slight chill.

Jacqueline shrugged softly for a moment before speaking up.

"I guess the right man hasn't come along yet," she said. "And why are you not a man in waiting?"

Lee chuckled lightly.

"I guess the right lady hasn't come along yet," he answered, now looking at her. "Until now, i have only just turned fifteen though perhaps you may be the closest I'll find"

did he like her? did he really her? To her, he was only her prey, her next victim. 'What a shame,' she thought. But she smiled anyways in flattery.

"I noticed your father wasn't near you inside," Lee continued. "Where might he be? I would like to ask for his permission to really get to know you. It seems as if you and I would get along well, and I've not found that in a woman yet."

Jacqueline smiled again.

"You have all the permission you need right here," she said. "I don't have a father, nor do I have a brother, or uncle."

Lee found this very odd. He'd never heard of a young lady being without an older male family member, especially young ladies attending balls alone.

"Tell me, Lee, what is it about me you want to know?" she asked, swirling her finger inside the glass of her untouched wine.  
"Everything," he replied simply. "But, first, why don't you have a father, or brother, or uncle? Who looks after you?"  
"I'm an only child and my father and uncle are long dead. And my creator looks after me," she answered, now studying her wine.

Creator? 'In other words, her mother,' he thought. His eyes fell upon her fingers playing with her wine. 'Why must she keep doing that?' he wondered. She was starting to seem quite strange, should he leave now, or press on?

"I see," he said. "And why is it you have not touched your drink yet? Do you not like wine?"  
"Oh, I like wine, but I'm not thirsty for it. I have a thirst for something else," she said in a playful manner, now looking up into his eyes. "I'm thirsty for you."

Lee laughed at her foolish answer. he felt sweat beading up on the nape of his neck, it seemed to be hotter out here than it was inside.

"How is it that one can be thirsty for another?" he asked, tugging as his collar.  
"Simple," she replied softly, dropping her wine glass to the ground, and allowing it to shatter.

She turned to face him, grabbed him by the back of his neck, and smiled almost seductively. his eyes opened wide as he knew something was terrible out of place

"Like this," she added, now bringing his neck down and biting sharply into it.

Immediately Lee screamed in pain and tried to force her off him, but she was twenty times stronger than she looked. Within a matter of a few moments, he quickly grew weak, and Jacqueline slowly put him down on the ground as she still sucked his blood. When she finally pulled her teeth out of his flesh, she gasped in pure bliss, throwing her head back in satisfaction. She brought her free hand up to her throat, to wipe away the drops of his blood that dripped onto her chin. It had been too long since she went without human blood.

having been sent outside to find his brother, Seth turned the corner and dropped his glass as well. Seth couldn't believe what he saw. He'd never seen such a creature. He'd always thought it was simply make believe. But this creature was real and alive. And he had to stop it from killing his brother.

"Hey!" he shouted, running after her.

Jacqueline quickly looked over, accidentally scratching her chin when she was startled, and found somebody had caught her during one of her hunts for food. Not realizing a few drops of her blood dripped onto her prey's lips, she quickly dropped him, and fled from the scene. Almost immediately, Lee's body went into a state of extreme, uncontrollable shaking and he passed out.

When the morning rose, Lee immediately started screaming, almost in any kind of creature's agony-like shriek. Every member of the Dubois family came rushing into his room, with worry and some confusion written all over their faces.

Wondering why Lee wasn't in bed, they quickly realized he was hiding in his closet. The father, Johnathan, walked over to it and proceeded to open the doors, but Lee was surprisingly strong and very resistant.

"It hurts!" he exclaimed. "Keep it away from me!"

Seth immediately turned to the windows, and realized the sun's rays had reached Lee's bed, which he figured was the cause of Lee's screaming. He went over to the windows, and immediately closed them with the dark curtains. The sun disappeared altogether from the room, and Seth turned to the rest of his family, who was madly confused.

"It's gone now," he said softly as he reached the closet.  
"You promise?" Lee asked, almost whimpering.  
"I do," Seth replied. "Now will you come out of there?"

Slowly the one door opened, and everybody could see Lee peeking out, looking for any sign of light. When he knew it was safe, he opened the other door, and revealed himself. He'd turned extremely pale overnight, which scared the family.

"I'll fetch for the doctor," Johnathan said, now leaving the room in urgency.

Lee couldn't understand why the sun had hurt him. He walked back over to his bed, and sat on it as he held his right arm to his chest, trying to nurse the very painful burn on his arm away.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" their mother asked as she walked over and sat down on the bed next to him. "You gave us quite a scare last night. It was lucky that Seth found you when he did."

Seth hadn't told the truth of how he found his brother. He knew that nobody would have believed him. So he stood a few feet away with his other brothers, not knowing what to do.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Three

"What happened last night?"

Lee was extremely confused.

"Nobody knows," Denise answered. "You were found lying on the ground in the King's courtyard with a bloody neck. It appears as if you'd been bitten by some sort of wild animal"

Immediately, Lee felt the bite mark on the right side of his neck. He went to his full length mirror and studied it. Then he remembered.

"Jacqueline," he whispered, shortly before turning to his mother. "That girl from last night, she bit me! She's a vampire!"  
"Clearly, you're delusional," his mother said, now getting off the bed and walking over to him.  
"Yeah, there are no such things as vampires," Heath added. "They are only make believe."

Just as Denise reached Lee to feel his forehead, Lee pushed her away.

"Get away!" he shouted angrily. why didn't see trust him? can't she see the bite?

Everyone, including Lee, were shocked at his sudden outburst. He never pushed a woman, let alone his mother. In fact, he'd never been this angry in his entire life, so why was it starting to happen now? Lee quickly felt a wave of fatigue come over him, and he soon fell over, and slipped into a coma. When his father came back with the doctor a few hours later, the doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong.

So everybody took turns watching Lee now sleeping back in his bed. When the nighttime sky came, it was Seth who was in his brother's room, watching him sleep so peacefully. He'd heard the stories of what happened to humans when they turned into vampires. Lee's pulse was extremely low, his breathing was very shallow, and the dark veins of his fading pale skin were very noticeable. He hovered over Lee, opened one of his eyelids, and immediately jumped back in fright. Lee's normally hazel eyes were turning completely black.

He thought Lee would wake up when he touched one of his eyelids, but Lee didn't even budge. He remembered hearing stories of how vampires had heightened senses of smell and hearing, so he wanted to try something. He grabbed one of Lee's shoes, placed a finger under one of the sharp corners of the buckle, and scratched himself to the point where he saw blood coming above his skin. He dropped the shoe and backed up, however, when he noticed Lee's eyes immediately flutter open. Lee sat upright and stared into his older brother's eyes, shortly before placing them upon Seth's bloody right index finger.

"Laws a-mighty!" Seth exclaimed in shock when Lee licked his lips in hunger, which showed off his upper fangs. "The stories are true. You've become one of them."

Lee got up from his bed, but froze when Seth put his arms out in front of him.

"Don't step any further," he said, starting to get scared.  
"What's the matter?" Lee asked. "What are you talking about?"  
"You're a vampire," Seth answered. "You've been bitten by a vampire and now you're one of her kind."  
"What?" Lee asked, his voice slightly rising as he hurried over to his mirror.

Both boys were taken by surprise when Lee didn't have a reflection.

"Well, if that don't beat all!" Seth exclaimed. "You're..."

Seth froze when Lee became even more pale and when his eyes got dull. Lee turned his back to Seth, almost in tears.

"It... it can't be true," he stated, barely above a whisper, looking at his hands and arms, immediately recognizing his own pale skin and dark veins.

Seth slowly inched toward him, and looked him in the eyes.

"You are one, Lee," he said. "And, unfortunately, you're going to be hungry for blood soon."

Lee sniffed, immediately focusing his eyes on Seth's bloody finger. Seth caught his gaze and brought his finger up. He watched Lee follow his finger back and forth, each time getting closer and closer to it, until finally he grabbed the finger in desperation.

"Lee," Seth warned. "Let go of me."

Suddenly, a feeling came over Seth, and he couldn't pull away. He was mesmerized by the fact that Lee was bringing his mouth closer and closer to his finger, finally licking it clean. Lee was surprised. He'd never tasted anything that was so delicious. He looked up at Seth, who for some reason, didn't dare to budge.

"You taste delicious," Lee said, trying with all his might to resist the urge to bite his brother.  
"If you take mine," Seth said softly, referring to his blood. "I take yours. It's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

Lee didn't care one way or the other. He needed blood and he was going to get it. Before they knew it, Lee's fangs pierced the flesh of Seth's neck, and he began to satisfy his hunger and quench his thirst. Seth bit his lips to keep from crying out, from the excruciating pain, but he let himself go in Lee's grasp as he waited for the perfect opportunity to strike back. When he did, Lee was taken by complete surprise.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Four

Lee flinched and hissed at Seth with his teeth bared when Seth hit him hard on his burned arm. Seth took this as his chance to grab a hold of Lee's arm and place it in front of his mouth. Lee swatted him away and turned to grab him by the collar. Seth's eyes went wide with horror as he realized what was happening and could not yell for help before Lee had sunk his fangs into his neck. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't push him off and he could feel himself growing weaker by the second.

Heath entered the room, preparing to start looking after Lee, but he was shocked at what he saw. In fact, he tried to turn around to run, but Lee flew and blocked him from leaving the room, dropping Seth carelessly to the floor where he landed, helplessly, with a nasty thump.

Heath was scared out of his wits, and didn't know what to do. He looked slowly at Lee who had such a crazed look on his face it seemed unreal, and then to Seth lying with his eyes open, breathing shallowly, flat on the floor. So it was real. Lee was a vampire and he'd bitten Seth as well.

"Don't do this, Lee," he begged. "Please, let me go. Lee, Lee, no!"

Seth watched from the ground as Lee advanced hungrily on their eldest brother, but before he could try and protest he went into a serious fit and quickly blacked out. By the time Lee bit Heath, he didn't have any senses. The more he drank blood, the hungrier he became. he had nearly drained Heath dry when then window unexpectedly shattered. A loud shriek came within the room, and it came from the one who started it all, Jacqueline.

Heath's body, too, dropped to the floor as Lee growled over at Jacqueline. She came after him, but he was too quick. He wasn't about to welcome the creature who did this to him, who made him want to do this to his brothers. So they scratched and bit at each other to no end, until Lee shoved Jacqueline hard out the window. He went back over to Heath, his mind going crazy. It had been like something was controlling him, he'd never have done this to either of them. He bent down to help as Heath went into his fit when he was yanked violently backward. Jacqueline had come back.

She tackled Lee, and they fought hovering over Heath, which ultimately led to their leaking bites and scratches dripping blood onto his face and mouth. Jacqueline shrieked again, loudly this time, as she snatched Lee hard. Then she whisked him away into the night through his window.

"You Imbecile!," muttered Jacqueline as Lee was thrown onto the hard, cold ground.

Lee hissed and yelled, and proceeded to go after her, but he froze in his tracks when Jacqueline put her hand out and Lee couldn't move. It was as if she was controlling him with her mind. was that possible?

"You will obey me and abide by everything I tell you," she commanded.

Lee tried to resist her powers, but he couldn't.

"Because if you don't," she continued. "You will be the worm and I will be the bird. You're not even supposed to be alive tonight, but your imbecile of a brother interrupted my kill. Now I have no choice but to be your mistress and guide you until you're ready to live the way we are on your own. I should burn you for doubling my workload."

Lee knew she couldn't stand him anymore than he could her. All she wanted was to drink his blood and be on her way. But for the time being, she was now stuck with training a clueless, crazed fifteen year old, who created two of his own vampires with lack of experience. She could leave it alone if she wanted to, but it would just create a huge mess, and the entire vampire community would be on her tail. So in order to save her kind from taking unnecessary measures, this is what she had to do.

After being fixed up by the doctor, both Seth and Heath were put in their beds, and he wondered along with their parents as to where Lee had disappeared. But there wasn't much that could be done, except to wait until the morning came. When it did, both of the eldest brothers howled in pain once the sun woke them up by scorching their skin, and they both fled into their closets for comfort and safety only the darkness could offer. All of the troubles Lee endured repeated, until darkness fell when Lee came back. Seth was the first to awaken from his vampiric coma, and catch Lee already waiting for him in his room.

"What's happened?" he asked.  
"Follow me," Lee said. "And all your questions will be answered."

When Seth followed his brother into Heath's room, they were met by Jacqueline.

"Carrying one of them is one thing, but you can't carry both," she said, right before Heath awoke from his coma.

"Carry?" asked Seth

"Apparently, vampires can fly." Lee answered skeptically

Heath sat upright, meeting the eyes of his two brothers, and a pair that were unfamiliar to him.

"What's going on?" he asked in confusion.  
"Follow us and you shall see," Jacqueline answered, grabbing a strong hold of Heath.

Lee grabbed Seth, which confused him a little. But both Jacqueline and Lee flew out Heath's window. Heath and Seth were scared to death, but Lee and Jacqueline would teach them the dreaded news once they went back to her lair.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Five

When they arrived back at Jacqueline's lair, a cave deep within a small, deserted island, Heath and Seth were starting to fully realize they were vampires as well. Heath couldn't remember anything at all from the previous night, but Seth remembered little bits and pieces, even though it really didn't matter. They were both confused, however, when they were introduced to two male humans and one female human, who were chained against the wall, until they were told what was to happen.

"You three will be learning how to handle being creatures of the night, and learn our Code, but before I get to that, you must be taught how to hunt," Jacqueline started. "Because that's how you survive."

"It's pretty simple, isn't it?" Heath asked a little sardonically. "You just bite and drink until there's nothing left."

"Actually, it's not that simple. If you drain every last drop of blood from a single human, you will die. Humans can only live without so much blood, and drinking from the dead will kill you," Jacqueline replied.

"Isn't what what you intended to do?" Seth asked. "Drink every last drop of my brother's blood. Can a vampire die? i though they were already the living dead."

Jacqueline sighed, now having to explain for the second time in a row, as she explained it the first time to Lee the previous night.

"A vampire life is a cursed life. a cold, dark, and lonely one. But it still is, as i said, a life. we still breathe and act mostly as we used to, even when fully fed we have a steady heart beat. So yes, a vampire can die, but if you want to be technical it would be more like ceasing to exist. Now, back to the topic at hand. I'd been involuntarily woken up from my sleep five days ago, and was too busy focusing on blending in with you humans in today's world instead of feeding, so I plead temporary insanity for doing what I almost did to Lee. Now, enough about me. You have to learn how to stop yourself from drinking a human's blood the right before the second they die. Lee, would you care to do the honors of demonstrating?"

Lee grinned, licking his lips hungrily at the three horrified humans in chains against the walls of the cave. He went over to them, sniffing them one by one, until he was satisfied with the third one, the second male. Soon enough, Seth and Heath watched as Lee punctured holes in the human's neck, him screaming the entire time. Lee knew he didn't quite like hurting people yet, but this blood just taste so wonderful.

"Get a closer look," Jacqueline ordered.

All three of them surrounded Lee and continued to watch him drink.

"You must learn to stop exactly before the heart stops," Jacqueline said, longing to drink the blood Lee was. "Over time, you will know when that will be. But seeing as you've all just been born, watch the human's color start to turn, as he starts to die. It will be hard to resist drinking every last drop, but that's something you'll learn to control over time as well."

Heath backed up, not wanting any part of this. This was a horrible, gruesome, awful thing. this was murder. A very cold chill rampaged it's way down Heath's back. Such an awful act to see your younger brother perform.

"That is enough," Jacqueline said toward Lee, but he refused to listen, until she shoved him away. "You must learn to control yourself!" she snarled viciously

All of them looked at the man chained against the wall as he quickly died.

"So the moment they stop screaming and stop resisting is the moment we must pull away?" Seth asked softly, finally figuring out how it went. Though he wasn't sure whether he liked that he was right or not. he had the urge to run and stand with Heath on the other side of the cave

"Ah, what a smart one you are," Jacqueline said to Seth, quickly turning to Heath. "Would you care to try?"

Heath shook his head no, staring at the other man and woman that were chained against the wall, next to the man Lee just killed. he was most certainly not going to harm anyone.

"No," he said to Jacqueline. "I will not let myself become what you are."

Jacqueline smiled innocently as she took a step toward Heath. When her face was only inches away from his, she whispered:

"We are all vicious creatures of the night. We are the dead, the damned, that feed upon the living. You may not be hungry now, but sooner or later, you will be. Until then, if you truly wish to starve, then so be it."

Jacqueline turned to Seth who already had the look of hunger in his eyes. though he tried with all of his might to shake the feeling.

"Go on," Lee said to him. "Their blood, it's delicious."  
"Yes," Jacqueline said, as she watched Seth step in front of the woman, sniffing the veins on her neck. "You've made a perfect choice for your first feed. Women taste much better than men, much sweeter. Go on, try her."

The woman whimpered as she met Seth's gaze. At that moment, Seth's eyes softened. He slowly pulled from her. He had been raised not to touch a woman. And since it had been instilled in him, practically since birth, he refused to start hurting women now. Seth turned to the man beside her, fearful of what this vampire was going to do, and he stepped in front of him. He grabbed him by the neck and thought for a second about saying he was sorry but decided instead on just closing his eyes. the moment he couldn't see the poor mans eyes looking back he pierced his flesh quite forcibly. The moment blood touched his lips was the moment he fell in love with his new life as one of the damned.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Six

When the man stopped screaming, Seth pulled from him, and brought his head back in satisfaction as he closed his eyes. His brother was right. Blood was delicious. He didn't know how he could have gone without it all this time. But he knew one thing was for sure. He'd never go without it again.

"Delicious?" Jacqueline asked.

He turned to her, grinning now, as the blood lingering from the bottom of his lip slid down his chin.

"I want more," he answered softly, almost preparing to hiss in hunger as he allowed his fangs to show. he was fully ignoring the horrible screaming still lingering in his head.

"You've had enough for now," Jacqueline said, freeing the woman from the shackles "This is your last chance, Heath. Take her blood for your own good. I promise you will love it."

When Jacqueline brought the woman forth, she scratched her on the front base of her neck, and practically shoved her into Heath's face. Heath grabbed her as Jacqueline released her from her hold, and he looked longingly at the line of blood trickling down to her collar. Everyone could see that even he had the look of hunger in his eyes, especially since he sniffed the woman as if he was in paradise, but he resisted. He had looked straight into her terrorized eyes and seen something flash through his head: His own dear Juniper screaming in pain as that monster before him sucked the life from her.

"Run," he told her. "Run away!"

When he released her, the woman ran, and the other vampires turned to him as if he was stupid. Lee rolled his eyes, Seth looked as though he'd thrown away a very nice piece meat, and Jacqueline seems as though she had been expecting this. The woman didn't get far, though, seeing as Jacqueline Jump high and then right in front of her.

"You may choose to do such foolish things, but your brothers will not," she said.

Seth was close enough to sniff the woman out, and when he did, he fell in love with the scent of her blood. He could barely withstand the lack of blood in his mouth, so he snatched her from Jacqueline, and started feeding on her - letting out a growl as he first bit into her. He felt her sweet-tasting blood in his veins, but he realized he did not like hearing her scream. It bothered him so much that the blood seemed bitter all of a sudden. A feeling of disgust with himself rose rapidly.

"Yes," Jacqueline said, smiling as Seth amused her.

Heath absolutely hated watching this. He hated seeing his own kin touching a woman in a way they were raised not to. Lee, however, was just as entertained as Jacqueline was. The woman started whimpering, and she cried in a begging manner, for Seth to release her. And he listened. She looked up at him in fear as he released his mouth from her neck. He couldn't believe he hurt a woman. Heath was glad he stopped, but both Lee and Jacqueline were confused.

"What are you doing?" Lee asked. "Finish her!" though there was obvious hesitation in his voice. The woman was bound to die now anyway...

"No," Seth said, still keeping the woman in his arms. "Drinking from a male is one thing, but a woman?" he realized how much of a monster he must seem to this poor woman, who looked as though she had so much more life she could have enjoyed...

Jacqueline was not pleased to hear this.

"If you won't, I will," she said, bringing the woman into her own arms. "I have no problem with it."

With that, Jacqueline bit into the woman, and finished her off.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Seven

When the bodies were disposed of, the lessons were continued. Lee, however, was still very hungry. In fact, he wouldn't leave Jacqueline alone about it, so she finally gave in.

"I suppose I can take you three out on a real hunt," she said. "And let you catch your own humans."

Although Heath was absolutely disgusted with the idea, Lee and Seth very excitedly agreed to her suggestion, so they went back to France. When they were back on familiar grounds, in Champagne, Seth was the first to take off and start his hunt. The others watched as Seth closely followed three men, shortly before tackling one of them, and starting his feed. Jacqueline smacked her forehead from behind one of the bushes, and turned to Lee.

"Go help him before those two men run off and attract attention," she ordered.

Lee did as she said and flew off to tackle one of the other two men.

"How can you sit here and encourage this kind of vicious evil?" Heath asked. "And you're a woman!"  
"It's easy," Jacqueline replied. "I'm a vampire. It's in my nature. It's what I do. You won't be able to avoid it, so embrace it, and make the best of it like your brothers are. Seth has leadership potential. Look at the way he feasts." she cooed almost fondly.

Heath watched as Seth finished his first victim, and flew after the third man who ran away, crying for help.

"I'm going home," Heath said. "I want absolutely nothing to do with this."  
"You can't go home anymore. There's nothing left for you there," Jacqueline replied.  
"Au contra ire," Heath answered. "I'm to be wedded next week. I'm not going to leave my Juniper for this... darkness. I never wanted this. You can have it back."  
"I repeat. You cannot go home."

Heath burned his eyes into Jacqueline's and actually growled.

"Watch me."

With that, Heath took off, and left Jacqueline smiling. She'd been the same way once. So she knew it was just a matter of time. When Lee finished his first prey, he helped Seth finish the third man. When they were done, Jacqueline went over to him, and congratulated them on a job well done.

"Excellent work," she said. "Except, Seth, I forgot to mention one thing. Rule number one for when you go on a hunt is that you must never be seen when you've chosen your prey, because if you don't follow this, you'll be risking your life and our entire community."  
"Where's Heath?" Lee asked, being the first to realize his eldest brother wasn't anywhere in sight.

When Heath got back home, he'd notice his mother just left his room, but he stepped on his grounds before she closed the door. When she heard a thump within her eldest son's room, she turned, and was shocked to see Heath standing in the middle of the room.

"Heath!"

She hurried over to him and engulfed him into her arms.

"Where were you?" she asked. "Where are Seth and Lee? We've been worried sick about you!"  
"Oh, mother!" Heath exclaimed, hugging her tightly to his chest. "It was horrible, the things I've seen tonight! I never want to go back to it again."

She looked up into her son's eyes.

"What have you seen? And what don't you want to go back to again? And where are your brothers?"

She was full of questions.

"I've seen them do horrible things, and it's all because of the darkness, the darkness that's starting to consume them. It's trying to get to me, too, but I just can't let it happen."  
"What is this darkness you speak of?" She asked, growing really worried.

Heath really didn't want to answer that question, but he knew he'd have to, so he opened his mouth and showed off his new fangs. His Mother screamed in shock and stepped far away from him. Even though he knew she'd react like this, it really hurt him.

"Lee was right. Vampires do exist," he said.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Eight

Heath's Mother immediately ran out of the room screaming, and Heath sighed, leaving himself no choice but to follow her. He could have beaten her to the foyer if he wanted, but he didn't want to, so he just used the normal walking pace and stopped at the balcony overlooking the entrance . His father and little brother appeared with their mother, who was screaming and crying into her husband's arms.

"There are no such things as vampires,"he told her, after she tried telling him what happened. "Heath, get down here, and apologize to your mother."  
"She's speaking the truth," Heath said. "Why do you think Lee reacted so badly to the sun yesterday morning?"

Before he could get another word in, Heath flew over the balcony, and landed in front of his family. Christian immediately hid behind his parents, and his father backed him and his wife up.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice shaking. "And what have you done with my son?"

"I'm still the same me, father," Heath said softly. "I'm just no longer... mortal. Please don't cast me away, though, for being something I wish not to be. This was done to me against my own will. I want to live as humanly as I possibly can. Lee and Seth, they've been taught to feast upon the living, so there's no turning back for them. I, however, refuse to allow the darkness to consume me. I will not feed and live my life off of blood. I will not harm anything that moves and breathes. I want to live normally and I want to love. I want to be with my family and I want to make Juniper my bride. You have all brought meaning to my life, and if I don't have it, what's the purpose of existing?"

"How do we know this is what you mean?" he asked.

Heath took a step back before speaking up.

"Because I will vow, from this night forward, to be the keeper of this family for all eternity. Harm and danger shall not, and will not, ever cross our paths."

And that's the way it was, until Heath grew weak the night before his wedding, and Lee knew it. He had the strange ability to sense peoples feelings, so he knew when one of his brothers were in trouble, and he couldn't ignore a cry for help. Their parents and little brother backed up, though, when he came flying through Heath's window.

"Lee?" Heath said, confused as to why Lee came back out of nowhere. "What are you doing here?"  
"Heath," he said, rushing to his eldest brother's side. "You're weak. I could sense it halfway around the world."

Lee wasn't expecting Heath to be as pale as he was. He looked sickly. And he looked starved.

"You haven't fed yet, have you?" he asked.  
"I told you all, that's not who I am," Heath answered. "Nor is it ever something I want to be."  
"You have to accept it now, Heath, because it's who you are. If you don't feed, then you will die."  
"If that's the price I have to pay, then so be it, because I will not harm or kill!"

"Bout what about Juniper? what will she do without you?"

Heath just continued to get ready and stared at himself in the mirror. "I can't.."  
Lee sighed in exasperation. He looked down at his own wrists and bit his right one. Then he brought it to Heath's face.

"Then drink of me," he suggested. "I'm not going to allow you to starve yourself."

At first, Heath was going to refuse, until Lee's blood dripped onto his lips. So then he grabbed Lee's wrist, and pressed it firmly to his lips, shortly before withdrawing his brother's blood. Their mother covered her seven-year-old son's eyes so he couldn't watch. She and her husband, however, watched as Heath's gray, translucent coloring returned to its normal white, pale coloring. He was starting to feel better already.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Nine

Olive's breath was taken from her as she finished reading the first five pages of the book she aimlessly came across, while wondering the basement of a so called 'haunted house' with her two best trouble-making pals. Was what she read of this diary real? Or was it just a fairytale made up by an underground writer?

"Whoa, guys, check it out!" exclaimed Riley. "A coffin!"

Ruby looked up from an old, antique chest and was shocked at what Riley found. She, as well as Olive, both walked over to Riley as he shined his flashlight up and down the coffin.

"Dude, do you think there's a dead body in there?" Riley asked.

Ruby just smacked Riley upside the head, and just as soon as she did that, he started to nurse the attacked spot.

"No, Riley, dead bodies go inside of caskets. Caskets are rectangles. And considering this thing is styled like a toe clipper, it ain't no casket. It's a coffin and coffins are for vam-," Ruby explained, but she stopped in mid-sentence as she freaked herself out. "-pires. Oh, please tell me the last person who lived here was only a freak with a vampire obsession."

Olive ran her fingers along the ornate carvings and wood grain detailing. Then she noticed a familiar name carved in a beautiful calligraphy font at the bottom. Lee J. Dubois. He was the author of the diary she had in her hands. She quickly realized this person might actually be a vampire. nah, that would be silly.

"I wonder what the J stands for," Ruby said. "But that's a hot name."  
"James," Olive whispered. "Lee James Dubois."

At that moment, Lee's eyes fluttered wide open. He hadn't heard his name in centuries, so why was he starting to hear it now? Ruby and Riley exchanged looks before turning to their sixteen-year-old friend.

"Where'd you get that from?" Riley asked.

Why were there unfamiliar voices right outside his coffin?

"I got it from the diary," answered the sweet angelic voice Lee heard. "But before I explain, let's get out of here, because I don't want to miss curfew. You know I can't afford to break it again."  
"Alright, but we have to come back tomorrow in daylight," Riley said. "I want to see what else is down here and this flashlight will not cut it for the lighting."

And with that, all three teenagers left, which allowed Lee to remove the lid of his coffin. He looked over at his bookshelf, and found that his most-prized possession was no longer in its place, which meant the kids took it. He didn't care. They'd be back tomorrow. but he could always try and get it back now...

When Olive split from her friends and got back home, she went straight to her room, and started reading the diary again.

While Lee was taking care of Heath by feeding him, Jacqueline was taking care of Seth by training him to control his new-found power control fire. She was very, very pleased with how things were looking with him. In fact, she was starting to wonder if biting Lee wasn't a mistake after all.

"Yes, yes," she said. "Very good. Not many vampires have this ability, but when they do, they usually also have the power to move other things with their minds."

Jacqueline stepped beside Seth and smiled as she placed a hand over his shoulder.

"You're a quick learner," she replied, now stepping behind him, her hand traveling to his back as she moved to his other side. "You know, Seth, vampires who have pyrokinesis and telekinesis often times become very powerful leaders."

Seth liked where this conversation was going.

"Are you saying I have the potential to be someone important?" he asked, now looking to his right as she brought her face close to his.  
"That's exactly what I'm saying, but before we get ahead of ourselves, let's test your mind."

Jacqueline took a stick from the fire Seth made, and lifted it into mid-air.

"Put the fire on the stick out," she ordered.

When Seth did so, she gave him a new order.

"Now throw it back into the fire," she said.

It took a little while, but Seth was able to concentrate, and actually throw the stick back into the fire where it burned again.

"I stand corrected," Jacqueline said. "With a little more training and practice, there's almost no doubt you will become a great leader."

Seth smiled confidently over at Jacqueline. He could tell she was very amused. She wanted to see him rise. So he decided he was going to make it happen. And nothing would stand in his way.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Ten

When Seth and Jacqueline went back inside the cave, Seth could hear cries for help.

"Wait a minute," Seth said, stopping in his tracks as he looked to a smiling Jacqueline.  
"I thought we weren't feeding tonight.

"It is a treat for you, my sweet," she said, swiftly placing a finger under his chin and softly flicking it as she pulled her finger away.

Seth grinned and they went deeper within the cave. He could hear a woman crying, so he knew immediately she was for Jacqueline, considering he wouldn't stand to feast on women. He also heard a man's voice, as well as shackles banging against the walls of the cave, indicating that the man was trying to break free. When they reached the captured humans, the smile on Seth's face immediately dropped, when he looked over at the woman who was chained against the wall.

"Mary!" he exclaimed, running over to his fiancé.

"Don't tell me, you know her?" Jacqueline asked, quite surprised.

"She's my fiancé," Seth said, turning to Jacqueline. "Don't tell me you were going to kill her."  
"As a matter of fact, I am," Jacqueline said. "He's for you."

Seth looked over at the man who was now quiet, just looking at him, and wondering what he was going to do.

"I'll trade you," Seth said, now looking back into Jacqueline's eyes. His respect for her suddenly draining.  
"You're going to kill your fiancé?" Jacqueline asked, quite surprised to hear that Seth actually wanted a woman's blood for once.  
"Take the man and mind your business," Seth answered, using his strength to remove the shackles from the walls, to free his lady in waiting.

Mary didn't know what was going on, or who to trust, but she was definitely scared out of her mind. Just as Seth was about to leave, Jacqueline blocked him.

"You're going to free her, aren't you?" she said. "I did not waste all my time and energy to bring her here and then be released. Kill her, right here, where I can see."

Seth burned his eyes into Jacqueline's. He noticed that she actually flinch the smallest bit at he glare. He had a right mind to burn her alive right here and right now. But instead, he only threatened her.

"I will not," he said. "And if you try to take her away from me, I will burn you up immediately."

Jacqueline hissed loudly, and proceeded to show her fangs and hurriedly snatched Mary out of Seth's arms, but she dropped Mary when Seth burned her arms. A shriek of agony escaped her lips as Seth then focused on throwing her against the wall. He quickly flew to Mary, brought her in his embrace of protection, and flew out of the cave. By the time they landed back in Champagne, Mary was begging to be released from Seth's grip, so he did when he touched ground. Then she proceeded to run away, crying for help, but Seth grabbed her and stood her against a tree.

"It's alright, Mon Cheri. I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently, now stepping in front of her as he softly stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "You've known me all your life. I love you too much to let you cross paths with danger."  
"Please, get away from me!" Mary exclaimed. "You're one of them! You're a murderer! Please, just let me go!"

By now, Mary was in hysterics, and this broke Seth's heart.

"Alright," he said. "I'll let you go, but only on one condition. You cannot tell anyone of what just happened, of who I became, okay? If you promise me this, I promise to see to it that you will always remain safe from my kind."

Mary didn't say anything, but as soon as Seth released her, she immediately ran off in horror. Just as soon as she was out of sight, he looked down at his hands, and guilt took over him. He'd now regretted cutting his finger from the moment he had. Such a small curiosity had caused so much pain.

"What have I done?" he whispered to himself.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Eleven

After Lee began to feel like he was starting to be drained, he pulled his arm from Heath. Surprisingly, Heath wasn't messy at all, considering this was his first time drinking. But Lee was glad his brother's coloring returned.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

Heath nodded, not wanting to say anything. At that moment, Lee turned to find his father standing in the room, which meant his mother had left with Christian.

"What has happened to you two?" he asked. "How did this come to be?"

"The girl I danced with at the King's masquerade ball, she's a vampire, and she accidentally did this to me. I got hungry, and accidentally turned Seth and Heath into vampires as well, except Seth seems to like it very much."

With that, Lee turned to his brother, who was now lying in bed.

"And I'm sorry for doing this to you. I only bit you because I was hungry. I had no intentions of turning you. Jacqueline and I got into a fight, and she scratched me, and my blood dripped onto your lips. So I really am sorry you've been turned. I would like nothing more than for you to be human again. But since nothing can be done, you have to accept this new way of life. It's forever, yes, but you'll have Seth and I."

Heath knew Lee was right, and Lee knew he knew it, but this just isn't what he wanted.

"I know, Lee, but I don't want to kill. I don't have it in me to do such a cruel thing."

At that moment, Olive tried to read onto the next page, but it didn't make any sense at all. But then she quickly realized many, many pages had been torn out.

"What?" she said out loud. "That's not fair! Where are all the other pages?"

Lee grinned as he sat on the thick branch of the tree in front of her window.

"Did you find it to be a good read?" he asked.

Almost immediately Olive pulled the covers up to her face, in horror, as she wondered where that voice came from.

"W-w-who said that?"

"If you dare to find out, come to your window," he spoke again.

"Go away," Olive said.

"Aren't you curious to know what happened next in my story?"

Olive looked down at the diary in her hands, realizing immediately it was Lee who was talking to her. She got out of bed and went over to her window in curiosity. She could see a dark figure in the tree, but she couldn't make out what he looked liked.

"This is yours?" she asked, referring to the diary.

"Yes," he answered. "You sounded disappointed when you stopped, so I imagine you've gotten to the part where pages are missing, am I correct?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Olive replied. "What happened to them? I need to know what happened next in your life. Did Seth stay true to his promise to Mary? Did he ever become a leader? Did Heath ever start hunting? And, you, what happened to you? Wait, how did you know I have your diary?"

Lee chuckled lightly.

"You're just full of questions, aren't you?"

Lee thought she would fear him, as was natural, but he could sense that she was quite different. After all, she was very curious. And that wasn't good at all.

"Well, yes," she answered.

"You've summoned me awake from my sleep," Lee said. "What year is it?"

"It's 2010."

"So I've been asleep for the equivalent of six scores? Why have you called upon me?"

"What's a score?" Olive asked confused. "And I didn't call upon you."

Olive could tell that Lee was irritated. She could tell by the tone of voice he used.

"A score is the same thing as twenty years," Lee answered. "And you called me out by my full name."

Olive realized she really did wake him up.

"It was on your coffin, and Ruby wanted to know what the middle initial of your name stood for, and since I'd read some of your diary before I saw your coffin, I knew what it was. So I said it out loud. Was it a good thing I woke you up? Or was it bad?"

Olive could hear Lee sigh in disappointment.

"If you read the end of my... diary, you call it... you would have understood it to be a bad thing... and you would have gained the knowledge of the reasons why. But I suppose you aren't the type to skip around in books to read the better, more intriguing parts, are you?"

How was it this vampire, someone she just met, was able to figure out stuff about her that most people don't realize until after they've known her for awhile? Lee could sense her curiosity growing stronger. And he didn't like it one bit.

"No, I'm not," she answered. "Can you come into the light? I want to see what you look like."

At first Lee was hesitant, but then he decided it wasn't going to cause any harm, so he leaned in toward the illuminations of Olive's bedroom light shining upon the very end of the branch. Immediately Olive smiled warmly at him. Even though she knew he'd have the body of a teenager, she hadn't expected him to be so handsome, but her heart leaped.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Twelve

"Wow," Olive said.

"What? Did you expect me to be Hideous looking?" Lee asked.

"On the contrary," Olive said. "Maybe the Nosferatu, yes, but I never thought you'd fall under that group. Besides, vampires date all the way back to, like, 400 B.C., and you were a 1700's vampire, so you're nothing at all like the older, ugly-looking vampires."

Lee grinned.

"Quite the little Historian, are we?" he asked.

Olive returned his grin.

"Yes, I am. My friends and I, we love studying stuff like vampires, werewolves, witches, and ghosts. Why do you think we went into your house? It was rumored to be haunted and my friends and I love a good scare."

"Do you, now?" Lee asked. "I'll keep that in mind for when you and your friends visit again tomorrow."

"Hm," Olive started. "We're visiting during daylight hours, sorry."

"Oh, I've got patience," Lee said, grinning wider now.

This confused Olive a little bit.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Lee chuckled lightly.

"It means watch your back, Cheri."

Olive smiled warmly this time.

"Nobody's ever called me that before," she said softly. "Cheri. I like it."

"You know what it means?" he asked, quite surprised.

"Of course," she answered. "I'm fluent in French, German, and English."

"If you speak those languages well, then what is your native tongue?"

"Italian," she said. "I was born in Sienna, Italy. Although I miss Italy very much, America suits me just fine. How did you end up here in America, by the way?"

Lee knew it was just a matter of time before she turned the subject around on him. But he didn't mind at all. She'd shared some details about her own life.

"Back to me again, are we? What is your name?" he asked.

"Annabelle-Carina Olive Montgomery," she answered. "Olive for short."

Lee immediately fell in love with her name. And he didn't understand why. Perhaps it was because it suited her perfectly.

"Well, Olive, if you want to know the whole story, it is best that you should take my hand and trust me," he said, now standing up on the branch of the tree and offering his hand out to her.

Olive looked at Lee's hand, and turned to her bed. She threw the diary atop, turned the light out, and went to the window. She took his hand and he brought her close to his chest.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Nowhere far, if that's what you're worried about," he answered, flying to the top of her roof and then releasing her from his arms. "Please, sit. I imagine this will probably take a good portion of the night's time."

When Olive sat down, Lee sat beside her.

"My brothers and I, we stuck together for the first half of our lives, but then we all split for various reasons. Heath stayed in France, Seth went to Romania, and I came here to America. I came here to get away from the entire vampire community. I came to America to put myself to rest forever. The 1800's proved to be a very difficult time for all of us, and I just did not want to deal with life anymore."

By the tone of Lee's voice, Olive could tell a sense of depression took over him, an invincible creature of the night. The wind in the air blew in her hair, causing her to shiver. She hugged her legs to her chest and looked straight at Lee, for she knew he was about to tell her everything.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Thirteen

Heath ended up marrying Juniper, but his secret of being a creature of the night, did not last long. In fact, it didn't last twelve hours. When the morning rose, Juniper went to pull the curtains to their window open, but Heath immediately flew to block her from doing so. His quick movement really startled her too. But he had no choice but to block her from opening the curtains.

"Goodness, Heath, what are you doing?" she asked. "And how did you move so quickly?"  
"Uh, there's something I want to talk to you about," Heath answered, taking her hands in his.  
"Is something wrong?" Juniper asked as Heath led her to their bed.  
"As a matter of fact, yes," Heath said. "Something is wrong, very, very wrong. Juniper, I love you so much. You know that, right?"

Juniper laughed.

"Of course. You married me, didn't you?" she asked.

Heath nodded.

"And I married you because I love you too. I want nothing more than to spend my life with you. I want to have your children, I want to grow old with you, and I want to die with you."

'Oh, man. This is harder than I thought. She's going to be devastated.' thought Olive

"What if you couldn't have my children? What if you couldn't grow old with me and die with me?" he asked.

The smile on Juniper's face dropped and she quickly stood up.

"Please tell me you're not sick and dying?" she half-stated, half-asked.

Heath could tell she was getting really worried.

"Actually," he started, grabbing her hands and getting her to sit down again. "I can never get sick and I'm... immortal."  
"What?" Juniper said. "That doesn't make any sense. Where is this coming from? That's impossible."

Heath stood up from the bed and walked over to the wall.

"If it's so impossible, then how is this possible?" he asked, now floating up to the ceiling.

Juniper gasped

"And when the sun is on me, I burn. And when I'm hungry, or ready to eat, my fangs come out," Heath said, now showing his fangs.

Juniper screamed when Heath came flying down to her, but he placed a finger over her lips, to shush her.

"Juniper... I'm a vampire. All of what I just explained comes with the territory, and I have super speed, super hearing, and super smell. I can fly, I can camouflage, and I can read minds. This is really scary, believe me, I know. I wish it wasn't like this. and Lee and Seth are like this too. In fact, this all started with Lee."

Juniper couldn't believe what was coming out of her husband's mouth. She was really scared. And after he explained everything to her, she couldn't help but fall into hysterics.

"I'm so sorry, Juni," Heath apologized. "I'm so sorry that you're stuck with a vampire for a husband, someone who can only go out in public at night, instead of at any time like a normal person can. But I assure you, I promise you, no... I vow to you that it doesn't make me any less of a person than before. I'm still the same man you fell in love with and I always will be."

It broke Heath's heart when Juniper refused to look him in the eyes, even after several times of trying to get her to. She broke free from his arms, and tried to turn, but something caught her eyes. She looked up into Heath's eyes, and she noticed the first of his tears fell, but they were tears of blood.

"You really are one of them, aren't you?" she asked softly, now crying tears of her own once more.  
"I love you, Juniper Annette, more than anything," he said, ignoring her question. "I may have to feed on blood every now and then to keep from perishing, but I need you to see that I need you more than that. I hope you won't leave me for this. I pray you won't leave. Please don't leave me."

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Fourteen

"Aw, that's terrible!" Olive exclaimed. "Please tell me she stayed with him?"

Lee smiled warmly at Olive.

"She did," he answered. "They had a lot of problems revolving around that whole thing, but she ended up asking him to turn her into one of us, which isn't all that surprising. They wanted to spend eternity together."  
"Aw," Olive said in awe, smiling big. "That's wonderful."

Lee nodded in agreement and watched as her long, dark, wavy hair swayed and flew around in the nighttime wind. He could tell she was very cold, but she was trying hard to hide her shivering. He took off his trench coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, which caused her to look up at him. When he still had his arms around her, to adjust the coat on her to his liking, she leaned into him. Lee was surprised she did that, but he really didn't care. He just kept an arm around her, to keep her in close to him.

"Never try to hide emotions, much less feelings, from a vampire with the power of empathy," he warned in a teasing manner.

Olive just smiled and looked up at him. For once, Lee couldn't sense what she was feeling. Her emotions were all twisted and jumbled up.

"What?" she asked.

Before he could say or think anything else, he felt a pair of warm lips upon his left cheek. The last time he felt a pair of warm lips on his cheeks was when his mother was on her deathbed, hugging him and bidding farewell. Just the thought of his mother almost made him tear up, but just thinking about the fact that a lady outside his family would kiss him, that made him smile.

"Thanks for telling me your story," she said.

"I'm not even finished, so why would you need to give me a kiss?"

"I don't know, because you're handsome, and really sweet? I'm nice and appreciative like that."

Lee smiled at her.

"Your lips," he said softly, looking at them longingly. "They're so warm."

Olive could tell Lee wanted to kiss her. She'd only met him a couple of hours ago...though she felt strangely that she knew him very well.

"You act as if you'd never been kissed before, much less felt warmth in ages."

Lee's smile faded as he looked down at the roofing shingles they were sitting on.

"I haven't felt warmth for two centuries, and no woman outside my family as ever kissed me."

Olive could sense this was one of the things that eased him into wanting to rest for all eternity. She felt bad for him. But he wasn't alone. She brought a hand up to his cold face and turned it to face her. She smiled meekly as she looked into his eyes, his gaze made her turn a light shade of pink. Then she leaned in, and placed her lips softly upon his, which took him by total surprise.

At first, he was stunned, but he quickly gave in. Considering Lee's skin and his touch was ice cold, Olive didn't think it would be that much different in the kiss. Sure, his lips weren't that far off, but the inside of his mouth was warm. It wasn't warm like most humans' were, but nonetheless, it was there. In fact, she loved the mix of the cold and warmth and she knew she could get no other experience like it, except with this stranger, this vampire.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Fifteen

When Olive pulled her lips from Lee's, both were quite speechless.

"So that's what a kiss feels like?" he asked. "And to think I've been missing out on such a wonderful thing all these years."

"You're not alone, Lee," Olive answered. "I've never been kissed before until now, either."

"Well, you're young and beautiful. You were bound to get kissed sooner or later."

"And so were you," Olive said.

Lee pulled his eyes from hers and stared at the moon.

"It will never happen again," he said. "I'm a vampire. People fear me and I'm not attracted to other vampires. I am forever damned and I am meant to spend eternity alone."

Olive could tell Lee didn't want to talk about it anymore. She knew, though, that even if he was a vampire, he still felt everything humans did. She could tell he hated his very existence, and how he longed to have a mortal life, instead of immortal. She couldn't believe the feelings she was starting to have, a foreign energy was pulling them together

"I'm tired," she said softly, placing her head on his shoulder.

Lee stood up, helped her up, and then he flew her down to her window. He made sure she made it inside her room safely, but when she did, she didn't let go of his hand. In fact, she tugged on it, which told him she wanted him to follow her.

"I'm not sure you should invite me in," he said.

"I know. 'Never invite a vampire into your home.' I don't really care. I trust you," Olive said. "So, please, come in. I want to fall asleep with someone's arms around me for once. I want to know what that feels like. And I'm sure you do, too. at least stay for a while."

"But don't you have to be married to do that?" Lee asked, now accepting her invite as he stepped inside her dark room.

"But we're not doing anything wrong. I just want to talk. Lots of unmarried folks live together, too. You've been asleep for too long. The world has changed."

Lee looked into her eyes and smiled slightly.

"Indeed, it has," he said softly.

Olive had a feeling he was referring to her, in a way, so she blushed. Lee quite enjoyed her company, so he was glad she invited him inside. He lay down with her on her bed, atop her covers, while she lay under them. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he put an arm around her back, as she stared into his eyes. He normally would have bitten her by now and would have been on his way, but this girl was different, and he was drawn to her for some odd reason.

"Can you tell me what happened with Seth and Mary?" she asked.

He smiled down at her and nodded slightly.

"Of course."

It had been weeks since Seth had last spoken to Mary, and the longer he went without talking to her, the more depressed he became. Then one night, he had to force himself to speak with her again, and vice versa. He caught her one night outside, thinking, as she stared up at the moon.

"I miss you," he said softly.

Even though he'd spoken softly, it literally made Mary jump, practically out of her skin.

"Please, get away from me," she said, backing up once she turned to see Seth standing a few feet away from her.  
"You can't tell me you don't miss me too," he said.

Mary froze in her spot as she could see Seth's eyes were dull and lifeless.

"Things are never going to be the same between us again, are they?" he asked, not waiting for a response from her to his previous statement.  
"I love you so much, Seth, but I can't marry you. I can't have a family with you. It would never work out. I need a human husband, someone who can give me children, someone who can make me happy. And you've changed. You can no longer be what we both wanted you to be."

Seth knew this was very, very true, but her words actually finalized everything, and gave him a real wake-up call. Her words, they hurt him, so much. He tried to step closer to her, but she backed up, yet again.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. "Let me near you, just this once, please."

When she allowed him to, he engulfed her into his arms, and hugged her gently.

"I love you so much, Mary Dorothea Beiner," he said. "And I want nothing more than for you to be happy, so you have my blessing to marry a man who's going to give you what you need, and much, much more. But, please invite me to your wedding, and please allow me a dance with you. Before that, and after that, you never have to see me again."

With that, Seth kissed her on the cheek, and he pulled from her. Mary looked up into his eyes and what she saw made her cry in guilt. Tears of blood were sliding down his own cheeks. Seth then flew off and left her be. She didn't want to hurt Seth the way she did, but she had no choice, because she had to let him go.

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Sixteen

"Aw, that's so sad!" Ruby said.

The next day had arrived, and Olive had woken up to loneliness, but she didn't mind. She knew Lee had to go back to his coffin before sunrise, and she knew right where it was, so she wasn't worried about never seeing him again. But she did, however, tell Ruby and Riley everything that happened the previous night after they split. Ruby and Riley were very hooked into the story, even though Olive's mother thought she was just making the entire thing up.

"So then what happened?" Riley asked. "Did Mary ever marry anyone?"

"I don't know. Lee stopped his story there," Olive answered, as they walked into her backyard. "Let's go see him and he can tell us the rest of the story."

Riley and Ruby both dropped their mouths wide open in shock.

"Are you nuts?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, you can't go messing around with vampires!" Riley exclaimed.

"Guys, relax, I just told you he didn't hurt me last night," Olive said.

"Yeah, last night," Ruby reminded. "There's no telling if he'll hurt you tonight or tomorrow night. Vampires are dangerous creatures, especially when you disturb their sleep."

Olive grinned, grabbing three flashlights from the tool shed, and handing two to her friends.

"Not this vampire," she said. "He's as sweet as ice cream."

"Sweet as ice cream?" Riley asked. "Don't you think that's kind of lame?"

"Actually, no, because it fits him perfectly. Vampires' body temperatures are way lower than ours, remember? Compared to us, his skin feels ice cold. but he show some of it, and not a lot, I can tell he's a total sweetheart. Just trust me, okay? He won't hurt us. If anything, we'd hurt him, because we do have sunlight as a major advantage. If you guys are too scared to be near him, just stay in the light."

Riley and Ruby exchanged petrified looks, and they silently followed Olive back to Lee's 'haunted' house. When they got there, Riley and Ruby were practically holding each other, scared of all that could possibly happen and go wrong with this whole vampire thing. Ruby was even dramatic enough to record herself on her cell phone, telling all her family and friends how much she loved them, in case this vampire were to eat her. But Riley convinced her he'd protect her first, and Olive just laughed at the whole situation, knowing her friends were overreacting and just downright hilarious. When they got to the house, and went down into the basement, the first thing they did was head over to the windows to shed light into the room. When the task was done, everyone gasped at the opened coffin. They walked over to it with a mixture of amusement and confusion. Olive looked up, however, when she saw something flicker in her peripheral vision.

"You weren't kidding!" Ruby exclaimed. "He really is a vampire!"

"But where is he?" Riley asked. "Why isn't he asleep in this coffin?"

Olive looked up at what caught her eyes, and realized there was a bat in here, up in the far corner of the ceiling where daylight couldn't touch it. It was staring at her with its shiny eyes. And when one closed momentarily before opening again, she quickly grinned as she knew it was a wink, and knew this was no ordinary bat. She wanted him to show himself in his true form, but he was very limited, and didn't have enough room of darkness to do so. So she went over to the windows and closed all of them.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, open the windows back up!" Riley exclaimed.

Out of nowhere, Ruby and Riley start screaming, all because they heard the chirping noises of a bat nearby. Almost immediately they hugged each other as the lights all along every wall of the room lit up. Before they knew it, the bat they heard flew in front of them and hung upside down on some of Olive's left hand fingers.

"Nice show, Lee," she said, grinning as she looked down at his bat form.

A few more chirps came from him, as his wings fluttered, but then he stood still.

"You're kidding me! He's turned himself into a bat?" Ruby asked. "Why not something more vicious, like a wolf?"

Lee started chirping again, except this time, he spread his wings and flew after Olive's friends.

"Don't tempt him, Ruby!" Riley shouted as they ducked their heads below Lee flying around them.

When Olive felt they were scared enough, she laughed lightly, and spoke up.

"Okay, Lee, I think you've tortured them enough."

Just as Ruby and Riley stepped back, like Lee had planned before, they screamed as a net came up around them and hoisted them in the air. Olive couldn't help but laugh harder at this. Then Ruby and Riley screamed louder as Lee turned back into his true vampire form.

"I haven't had that much fun scaring humans since many scores ago," he said, grinning from ear to ear.  
"You're quite a prankster, aren't you?" Olive asked, stepping beside him as she looked at her two best friends, now trapped inside a net in mid-air.

Lee smiled, proud of the success his prank achieved. "I can be, and considering how easily scared they can get, your friends make it so easy. Actually, that net was meant for protection. set it up years ago for intruders. It's amazing you guys didn't step on it last night."

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Seventeen

"Ha ha," Ruby said, sarcasm filling her voice. "You two had your fun. Now let us go."

"Yeah, let us out of this stupid net," Riley added.

Lee looked to Olive, and when she nodded in permission, he flew up to Ruby and Riley.

"Relax," he said between chuckles once he realized they were startled by his sudden movement. "I'm the least of your worries."

Riley and Ruby watched him carefully as Lee brought them down from mid-air and set them down on the floor. Olive and Lee could both tell that they were scared senseless. They really didn't know what to make of this vampire.

"What do you mean by that?" Olive asked, changing the focus of everyone's minds, including her own.

Lee turned to her.

"We're dangerous creatures, us vampires, and I'm sure you weren't blind to that," he answered.

"I wasn't, but until last night, I was blind to the fact that vampires could express such kindness like you have shown me," Olive said, stepping close to Lee.

Ruby and Riley stood silent once they broke free of the net around them.

"That may be so," Lee said. "But don't expect another like myself, because I can assure you, it won't happen again. Even I, myself, can be vicious sometimes."

"Only when it's necessary," Olive said in a surprisingly understanding way.

Lee was at a loss for words.

"But do tell me, Lee, why you aren't taking after your kind, like you're supposed to?" Olive asked. "Why are you so friendly?"

Lee chuckled softly before speaking up.

"Because I have a soft spot for your kind. You humans truly don't know what you have. You're all like a painting," Lee said, almost whispering into Olive's ear, but Ruby and Riley could hear him. "You're all soft and delicate to the touch, you're all intricate and beautiful to the eyes, but all your lives can easily be stripped away from underneath you. Your lives can be ripped into shreds or burnt to a crisp. Your innocent existence can very easily be erased as if it never was."

Olive's breathing grew shallow when Lee gently touched her cheek with the back of his hand. He'd leaned in closer to her with their faces just inches apart. They met each others gaze.

"I am madly... and deeply..." Lee continued, now actually whispering as he leaned in even closer, never letting his eyes leave hers. "In love with you mortal, beautiful creatures."

Ruby and Riley could sense a natural connection between Lee and Olive igniting sparks. It was at this moment Olive gasp, breaking free from the trance she was in, from staring into Lee's eyes. she'd just realized Lee's hand was warm.

"Your hand," she said softly. "It's warm."

For a few moments, it was as if they were the only two in the room, when olive took Lee's hand and stared at it quietly. l Ruby brought them back down to reality.

"I thought vampires had cold skin?" she asked.

Lee looked over at her in response and retreated his hand.

"Only if we haven't fed for awhile. Not only does our skin turn warm to your touch when we've fed, but we can feel and hear our hearts beating too, as well as any human could."

All three teenagers exchanged looks before looking at Lee again. That's when Lee noticed it. He took a step closer to Ruby.

"You look rather familiar," he said, now stepping behind her. "In fact..."

Lee inhaled Ruby's scent sharply and deeply. Ruby whimpered as she shut her eyes tight. Riley backed up in fright and Olive was utterly confused.

"You have a rather familiar scent to you."

"How can that be?" Olive asked. "This is the first time you've met Ruby."

Lee looked up into Olive's eyes. There was only one thing he could say to her. And that was what he'd only heard pass all too often from the lips of his own brother.

"'Mon Cheri.'"

Shadows in the Night  
Chapter Eighteen

Olive squinted at Lee, trying to decipher what he was saying.

"I don't understand. Mon Cheri...Seth used to call...Are you... are you trying to say she's a descendant of Mary's?" she asked.

Lee grinned.

"Precisely."

Lee glanced down at Ruby's bare neck and brought his hand up to it.

"You know, darling, you have a beautiful neck. Why come into a vampire's home knowing it's dangerous to put your hair up and show off such beauty like that?"

Ruby gulped, not moving at all. She was petrified. But at the same time, his soft voice gave off a kindness, telling her not to be afraid.

"Ah, you hadn't expected to come here, did you? But Olive led you here, anyways," he guessed as he spoke softly into her ears.

Riley and Olive just stood there, watching Lee talk with Ruby.

"For someone who's obsessed with the vampire culture, you seem to be pretty scared right now," Lee continued, still touching Ruby's neck.

Lee sniffed her softly as he could feel and see the heat in her blood. The skin around her most vulnerable spot made itself very translucent for him. He wasn't, however, going to take advantage of it.

"Relax, Ruby. If I wanted to bite you, I would have done it already," he added, now walking around her and standing beside Olive. "You should learn to put more trust into your best friend. Besides, I had a hearty meal last night. I wasn't going to allow myself to be in the presence of three curious teenagers without feeding. That would be stupid on my behalf, especially since I'm enjoying your company."

Feeling his presence leave her side, Ruby opened her eyes, and stared over at Lee standing next to Olive.

"Are you really?" Olive asked.

Lee looked at her and nodded. he looked as though if he could have, he would have blushed.

"I sense you came back for a totally different reason than you intended to last night?" Lee assumed in question. "Is it because my story was left unfinished?"

"Yeah, we want to hear the rest of it," Olive answered. "Riley, what did you ask me earlier at my house?"

"Um, I asked if Mary ever married anyone," Riley said.

Lee chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, she did," he answered. "She married a man who became head of the King's army in France. She'd lost many children in childbirth, but that was common back then. But her and her husband still tried to conceive, and she finally gave birth to a beautiful, little girl three years later in 1778, named Constance Mignonette Badeau."

"And how did Seth take to that?" Olive asked.

"Not well," Lee answered. "He was devastated."

Years went by, and on the eve of Constance's tenth birthday, Seth had finally accepted the fact that Mary had a family that wasn't his. He'd watched Mary's family closely for the first decade, but he wanted to get a better look at Mary's beloved's daughter. Constance was always out on the balcony, connecting to her bedroom, way past her bedtime. She loved to stare at the moon and just let her mind wander. Tonight, her parents were at the King's masquerade ball having a good time, while she was stuck at home with her maids.

She wanted so much to be a part of the adult world, to join in on the nightly events that took place for them, but she had five years to go yet before that would happen. She sighed as she stared up at the moon. Seth watched her closely for awhile before making himself known for the first time.

"What saddens you, Mon Cheri?" he asked softly.

Constance turned around, finding nobody around, but she could have sworn she heard a voice.

"Who's there?" she asked.

Seth was expecting her to be scared, but she wasn't, not in the slightest bit.

"They call me Seth, but you may call me whatever you like," he answered, still so softly. "I'm an old friend of your mother's. And what is your name?"

"Constance," she replied. "Can you show yourself?"

The little girl could feel Seth's presence nearby, but she couldn't figure out where he was, until he came out of the shadows.

"You've got a beautiful name."

Constance smiled up at Seth as he came closer and allowed her to see his face under the moonlight.

"And you have a beautiful face," she said. "Why is it I haven't met you before, if you're an old friend of my mother's?"

Seth sighed, sadness taking over him, and he said the only thing he could.

"Because that's precisely what I am, Mon Cheri, an old friend."

Then, Ruby gasped.

"What is it?" Lee asked.

"Constance is my middle name!" she said awestruck.

"Oh god it is isn't it?" Riley said

"Really? Did your parents ever tell you why they gave that name?" Lee asked curiously

"It's been passed down in the family for years!" she laughed. "This is so cool!"

"I must say you do have a close likeness to Mary and Constance." Lee said coolly, thinking. He looked like a wonderful though had hit straight in the face, but then he shook his head, "No I would never work."

"What wouldn't work?" Olive asked

"Seth has been in misery for centuries. Seeing loved ones grow old while you stay the same is an awful and painful thing. After Constance passed he couldn't bear to watch her family go on. That's when he left. I was just thinking that if Seth could see Ruby and know that she knew he existed, he might live a happier life or at least know she was interested in his likes..." Lee said deliberating it in his head.

"Well, I'd be fine meeting an attractive vampire!" Ruby said excitedly and Olive gave her a scolding look.

"I haven't seen or spoken with Seth or Heath in in years..." Lee frowned.

"He's in Romania right?" Olive asked

"The last time I checked." Lee said "It would probably be easier to find Heath and Juniper."

"well, let's do it!" Ruby said, calmly

"Do what?" Lee asked confused

"Go find them, they'll helps us find Seth. I think I'd like to meet him. Also, to me, it sounds like you could use a little family reunion." She said frankly.

"Well, it's not that easy!" Lee said, but he sounded as though he was making an excuse.

"You would like to see them right?" Olive asked

"Well..."

"You must! I mean, you have to!" Olive said, really excited now, "Ruby! We could totally bring a family back together!"

"Oh yes! Riley? Wouldn't that be cool?" Ruby asked

"Well, if he doesn't want to..." Riley started

"Oh, your opinion doesn't matter anyway!" Ruby said waving him off. Riley rolled his eyes.

"I could definitely try." Lee said uncertain.

"Well, would you be doing all of this by yourself?" Olive asked, realizing that even if any of the three humans wanted to go, they'd have no way to leave unnoticed. "Cause I'd love to come with you!"

"Obviously if you think Seth would be so infatuated with me, I'd hop along with you guys!" Ruby said but then she laughed, "This is all so sudden! It's exciting! I'm related to an awesome family!"

"How the heck would you guys leave?" Riley asked, "Our parents would freak if we just left!"

"So you do want to come!" Ruby said, sucking him into this new-planned journey.

"I never said I didn't! I just don't know how it'll work..."

"We'll just do it." Lee cut in, "Not much else we can do. Hopefully it won't be too long of a trip."

"I like the way you think, Lee" Ruby said

Shadows In The Night  
Chapter Nineteen

"And what do you call those?" Lee asked astonished

"An Airplane!" Olive laughed, "It's a very reliable way of transportation" she said as the four of them got off the plane in a Paris airport.

"Ha ha! I'm in Paris!" Ruby said

"We're going to have to make this quick, it's almost sunrise." Lee said, hesitant

"You're not going to be much help, if you can't do anything during the day." Riley said

"Well I suggest you get to sleep, cause you're not going to be doing anything during the day either. We will all sleep during the day and rise at night!" Lee said quickly "There's nothing to accomplish during the day."

"Whatever you say, chief!" Riley said sarcastically, saluting him.

"Where are we going?" Olive wondered.

"Straight to the one place where Heath and Juni may be." Lee said

The door to Heath's Mansion was large and wooden, the place looked like it could have been the home to a very powerful man, defiantly a rich one. When Lee knocked it didn't seem to echo through like a normal door, giving the impression that this door was extremely thick. A woman answered, her eyes flickering instantly to the three humans standing behind her brother-in-law, who she hadn't seen in ages.

"Lee?" she said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you and Heath about the whereabouts of Seth." Lee said quietly "May I come in?"

"Oh. Yes, we were just preparing for bed. But Heath will want to see you." She said opening the door so we could walk in. she stiffened as Olive, Riley, and Ruby walked past her, holding her breath. Her gaze lingered on Ruby, confused.

"Lee! My dear brother! Why have you come? And with three humans?" Heath said as he saw them

"We need to find Seth." Lee replied

"I see, well I believe he is still in Romania, lonely as ever. We have invited him to stay with us many times." Heath said, "He chooses solidarity."

"Heath, Juniper, this is Olive and her friends Ruby and Riley. Olive has been reading my diary, so she knows everything there is to know. We are trying to find Seth so that he may meet Ruby." Lee explained.

"Why would Seth want to meet a mortal teenager?" Heath asked, he hadn't been paying much attention to the three of them but when he looked at the red headed girl he stopped wondering. "Oh, I see..." he said astonished.

"May we stay for the day?" Lee asked

"All of you?"

"All of us."

"Well, yes. Of course." Heath said, perplexed by his brothers tenderness for humans. "we do have regular beds. For decorative purposes." he smiled

"Oh, great..." Riley muttered

They were all gathered around a fire in the basement. The flame, their only light.  
"Now there is one thing that may be wrong with us traveling together." Lee said, staring at the ground

"What's that?" Olive asked

"Do you remember Jacqueline from my diary?"

"How could I forget? What's she have to do with anything?"

"She is a very vicious vampire. The thought of a vampire even remotely socializing or having anything to do with a human besides feeding on them repulses her. That was the main reason Seth and I came to our senses and left. She is also very violent. She torments humans for the pure sport of it. Rather than just getting what she needs and being done with it." he explained with great pain in his eyes, still staring at the floor.

"Oh?" Olive said, turning very pale "Sounds awful."

"We were bound to her while she trained us, having to do whatever she told us. It was a terrible life. Once we knew how to take care of ourselves we were rid of her. There was no need to see her anymore. She wasn't too pleased about that. She had always had strange affections toward Seth and was furious when he left. She's just someone you don't want to run into, if you know what I mean."

"Wow..." Ruby said absentmindedly. "Dangerous, huh?"

"Indeed." Lee whispered

"But what does that have to do with us?" Riley asked

"Well Jacqueline is very smart. She doesn't stay in one place. She moves a lot. I'm just hoping we don't see her along the way." Lee said

"Why are you even telling us this? Is there a chance we might run into her?" Riley, freaking out a little

"There is no way for me to be sure." Lee said, looking up for the first time and straight into Riley's eyes "I just needed to warn you."

So you think he's probably in the same spot?" Lee asked Heath as they were leaving

"That'd be your best bet." Heath confirmed "Good luck. I hope he's not in too bad of shape. It's about time one of us checked on him." he said and smiled at Lee "Good bye little brother."

"Goodbye." Lee said and nodded to Juniper

The sun had just gone down and they were off to Romania, hoping for the best and safety on their way.

Shadows In The Night  
Chapter Twenty

Romania was a brand new experience for Ruby. She had never been in such a place before. She knew that Olive and Riley were quite amazed too. It was like no other place. They were moving rather fast through though. She wished they'd stop and enjoy the view for a minute. But Lee insisted on going straight to Seth's castle.

"That's it, up there." Lee said pointing to a beautiful tower on the top of the hill. People seems rather scared to head the direction they were going and Ruby wondered why.

"Why do all of the people look scared when we get closer to the castle?" Ruby asked

"Because they all know Seth is a vampire." Lee said bluntly

"How do they not, you know, run him out of town?" Olive asked

"Because he has friends they don't want to meet. Romania is where most of the worlds vampires live."

"You sure your brother's the safest person to be walking up to?" Riley asked

"You were scared of me when you met me, weren't you?" Lee prompted

"Well, yes." Riley said

"And you are fine with me now?"

"Sure."

"It will be the same with my brother. These people don't know him." Lee said

"Alrighty then" Riley said, exhaling

When they go to Seth's door there was a moment of silence before Lee raised his hand to knock, but before he could tap on the door, it swung open.

"Lee? What are you doing here?" a soft voice said "you have people with you? Come in."

"Hello Seth, how have you been lately?" Lee asked quietly.

"How have I been? Well, just fine and dandy I guess..." he answered, his voice full of sarcasm "Why are you here?"

They walked inside to the foyer and stood in the center of the room. " We wanted you to meet someone."

"Who could you possibly, want me to meet? All I see are two people."

"Well this is Olive and that is Riley. But there are three besides me. Ruby, why don't you come up here so Seth can see you?" Lee asked kindly and Ruby stepped in between Olive and Riley "This...this is Ruby, Seth"

Seth had ignored Lee's introductions of Olive and Riley and had been staring at the floor, but was intrigued by the mention of the name Ruby and looked up lazily. When he saw her he didn't do anything at first. He just stood there and stared at her for a long moment. After about a minute he took a step closer to her and smiled. She stood still and looked straight into his eyes. The corner of her mouth went up the slightest bit and she stared into his, which she seemed to be quite infatuated. Riley twitched uncomfortably and looked quickly over to Olive who was watching them , fascinated. Seth hesitantly moved his hand toward Ruby's and then gently brushed it against her cheek. She shivered slightly at the touch of his cold hand and then smiled. "Mon Cheri." he whispered, practically to himself.

Then Seth frowned and looked at lee who was smiling.

"I don't understand." he said slowly

"I can explain!" Ruby said before Lee could say anything. Seth closed his eyes and smiled at the sound of her voice

"Yes, please explain. Who are you belle fielle?"

"My name is Ruby Constance White, and my great grandmother's great grandmother was Mary Beiner."

"You have a wonderful likeness." he said, never removing his gaze from her face.

Then all of a sudden there was a knock on the door and a voice called in :

"Seth! Seth Dubois, are you in there?" a woman's voice said

"Who is that?" Lee asked nervously "Is that who I think it is? Is that Jacqueline?"

Seth slowly turned to face Lee, "She comes to visit every once in awhile." he said quietly

Lee's eyes widened in horror "I thought we were rid of her!" he yelled. Seth said nothing. "We must hide them! She'll kill them!" Lee whispered, and then he looked at Olive "I should have never brought you here, and I am sorry for what may happen!"

"What?" Olive said, "Where should we go?"

"In there!" Seth pointed to a room off to the side and watched Ruby go. "Why did you bring her to me?"

"Not the time to discuss that." Lee said as Jacqueline let herself in

"You took far too long to get to the do-" she started but saw Lee "Why Lee, what in the world are you doing here, my sweet?"

"Jacqueline." Lee said with a stiff nod.

"Oh, just thought I'd stop by and keep you company Seth, my darling. But seeing as you have company already, I may hunt." She said turning toward the door. "I'll come back later." she with a wink. Just has she opened the door she stopped dead in her tracks and stiffened. "I smell...human." she said and whipped around, heading for the room where they were hiding.

"Get her!" Lee said disparately, thinking of Olive "Don't let her hurt them!"

But Jacqueline already had dragged all three of them out into the foyer.

"Why didn't you tell me you had snacks with you?" she said, awfully provocative.

"They're not for feeding." Lee said through clenched teeth. "Drop them."

"Very well," she said dropped them straight onto the floor. "But I'll shall have to take one." she hissed, and grabbed the front of Ruby's shirt and pulled her up the eye-level. "Doesn't this one look an awful lot like that old girlfriend of yours Seth?" she taunted " I think I'll take her with me."

"You're not going to take her anywhere, Jacqueline." Seth said calmly

"No? And what are you going to do about it?" she said moving the hair out of the way of Ruby's neck, causing her to whimper. "Awww, no no child. It's not as bad as it seems. It's a prick and the next thing you know, all of your blood is gone." She whispered to Ruby, plunging right into her neck. But the very second her teeth hit Ruby's neck Seth flew straight across the room knocking Jacqueline to the floor. Ruby was screaming horribly and was bleeding all over the floor.

"Ruby!" Olive screamed when she saw her on the floor, with an awful bite on her neck. Lee swooped in and pulled Ruby up the stairs and into a safe area. He ran back down stairs and pulled Olive and Riley to their feet "Go!" He yelled.

Seth had Jacqueline pinned on the floor and she was scratching at his face, hissing and spitting loudly. She pushed Seth off of her with all of her might and flew up the stairs after Olive and Riley.

"Watch out!" Seth yelled to them and at that Riley tripped, missing a step. Jacqueline scratched at his ankle and jumped up and grabbed his wrist, biting it crazily. He screamed at the pain and tried pushing her off. Olive watched in horror as Riley started to shake. Seth and Lee flew up and grabbed each one of Jacqueline's arms and threw her down the stair well.

"Take him into a bedroom!" Seth yelled

Olive grabbed Riley and pulled with all over her might. She ran to the bedroom as fast as she could and set Riley down, rubbing his forehead, trying to calm him. The one thing she couldn't do was stop herself from hearing Jacqueline's screams as Seth burned her alive, tearing her limb from limb.

Shadows In The Night  
Chapter Twenty One

Ruby's eyes opened slowly, her eyelids heavy. Seth watched her from the chair next to the bed. "Good you woke up, it's been three days."

"Seth? I feel funny."

He just stared at her with guilt in his eyes and didn't respond. He stared at the floor.

"Seth? Everything feels different." Ruby said wide-eyed, as she though of something, moving her hand to her neck "...am I a...Vampire?"

"I am terribly sorry...I..." He said sadly

"That's...wonderful."

"It is?" Seth asked cocking his head to the side

"Sure, I can't do anything about it now."she laughed

"But you're not in pain? Did you feel anything while you were out?"

"Well, I have a headache...are Olive and Riley okay?" she asked, suddenly serious

"Well, yes. Uh, Riley's a Vampire too or, at least in the process. He's probably hurting pretty bad, Jacqueline had a messy job with him...but he'll do fine by tonight. Olive's just fine."

"And Jacqueline?" She whispered

"Gone. We had to take care of her." Seth said staring at the floor. " Ruby?..."

"Yes?" She asked quietly

"Would you like to stay with me? I mean, now that you're a vampire. And I don't really know because Jacqueline interrupted us the other night but I'm pretty sure that was-"

"Love at first site?" she asked, finishing the sentence "It was for me. It's very hard to explain, but i think it's there. Personally I was very excited about meeting you. You were so sweet to Mary." he smiled and moved close to her grabbing her hands.

"So you will stay?" he asked

"Yes." she whispered, thinking hard. "It's very sudden. Who knew life was so fragile..." she sighed, remembering back to what Lee had said only days ago.

"Ah, Mon Cheri, my love." he said, kissing her hand.

"This is weird." Riley said, later that evening "I feel really funny. My arm and my ankle are burning."

"You'll get used to it. The fire won't last for very long." Lee said "I'm so sorry I brought you two here. This is all my fault."

"Are you kidding me? I've been obsessed with vampires since I was three, sure I never thought I'd be one but this is pretty cool. But everything's going to change isn't it?"

"I'm glad you think so. Yes, it will. It's a very hard transition. It's good you have a positive outlook. You're talking it far better than I did." Lee said and he turned to Olive "How are you, love?"

"How am I? Nothing happened to me!" she laughed

"And I'm very glad that nothing did." Lee whispered tendering as he sat next to her.

"yeah..." she said, staring off into space.

"Here we are again." lee said as they stood on the branches of the tree outside of Olive's window. He looked into her eyes but she looked said "What is wrong? Do you miss Ruby?"

"Well, yes but that's not what I was thinking about." She looked away "So you love me?" she said in what was kind of a cold voice

"I believe so..." he stated quietly "Is that alright?"

"Of course..." she cooed, not quiet reaching his eyes " But..."

He sighed as he realized what she was thinking of,"You want me to turn you don't you?" He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.

"Well I'm pretty sure I'm never going to find someone like you ever again. And I'm sure I want to spend more time with you! You might even call it love. In fact, I'm pretty sure it is love. I need you next to me, and i know that now. I don't want you to just be gone out of my life. I want you to be here when I need you and-"

She was cut off by his kiss. "If that's what you want." he whispered lovingly

"Really?"

"Of course. I know with my whole self that I love you. I've been waiting for over a hundred years for you. I will do anything for you. You saved me from myself. I owe you everything. I happen to be no good for you either, But I'm sweet as ice cream remember?"

"Sweet as ice cream." She confirmed, kissing him on the cheek. "I guess I'll see you on the other side, love."

he smiled and kissed her on the nose and then on the neck right before carefully biting it.

she's going to make a beautiful vampire, he thought.

THE END


End file.
